When you decide upon a computer course or training it is vital that the certification you will gain falls in line with the working world. Additionally, you should make sure that the program will suit you, your personality and abilities. There's a massive choice with these courses - right from office user skills up to training courses for programmers, networkers, web designers etc. Take advice before you dive in - talk to an advisor with knowledge of the market sector. Somebody who you trust to select the right career path for you - that's both relevant to industry and something you'll enjoy.
State-of-the-art training techniques currently give students the chance to be educated on an interactive course, that is far less expensive than old-style courses. The economies of scale of the new courses puts them within everyone's reach.
Does job security honestly exist anywhere now? In the UK for example, where industry can change its mind on a whim, it certainly appears not. We're able though to discover market-level security, by searching for areas that have high demand, tied with work-skill shortages.
With the IT business as an example, the most recent e-Skills investigation showed massive skills shortages throughout the United Kingdom of over 26 percent. Essentially, we're only able to fill 3 out of 4 positions in Information Technology (IT). Properly qualified and commercially grounded new employees are thus at a resounding premium, and it looks like they will be for many years to come. As the Information Technology market is increasing at such a rate, is there any other market worth taking into account as a retraining vehicle.
Without a doubt, the computing market provides outstanding prospects. But, to arm ourselves with the correct information, what kind of questions should we ask, and what are the most important factors?
Frequently, a typical IT hopeful has no idea where to start with Information Technology, or even what sector they should be considering getting trained in. Scanning lists of IT career possibilities is a complete waste of time. Most of us don't really appreciate what our next-door neighbours do at work each day - so we're in the dark as to the ins and outs of a particular IT career. Contemplation on many areas is imperative when you need to uncover the right answers:
* The kind of individual you are - the tasks that you really enjoy, and don't forget - what don't you like doing.
* Do you want to get certified because of a specific motive - e.g. is it your goal to work based at home (self-employment?)?
* Is your income higher on your list of priorities than other factors.
* Considering the huge variation that IT encompasses, you'll need to be able to take in how they differ.
* You should also think long and hard about what kind of effort and commitment you'll put into the accreditation program.
In these situations, the only way to seek advice on these issues is through a chat with an advisor or professional that has years of experience in computing (as well as it's commercial needs and requirements.)
We'd hazard a guess that you probably enjoy fairly practical work - a 'hands-on' type. If you're anything like us, the painful task of reading endless manuals is something you'll make yourself do if you have to, but it's not ideal. Consider interactive, multimedia study if you'd really rather not use books. Recent studies into the way we learn shows that much more of what we learn in remembered when we receive multi-sensorial input, and we put into practice what we've been studying.
Interactive full motion video featuring instructor demo's and practice lab's beat books hands-down. And you'll find them fun and interesting. Don't take any chances and look at examples of the courseware provided before you make your decision. The minimum you should expect would be instructor demonstrations, video tutorials and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab's.
It's unwise to select online only courseware. Due to the variable nature of connection quality from your average broadband company, make sure you get CD or DVD ROM based materials.
The way in which your courseware is broken down for you isn't always given the appropriate level of importance. How many parts is the training broken down into? What is the specific order and how fast does each element come? Usually, you'll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and receive a module at a time. While this may sound logical on one level, consider this: What if for some reason you don't get to the end of every section? What if you don't find their order of learning is ideal for you? Without any fault on your part, you mightn't complete everything fast enough and not receive all the modules you've paid for.
For the perfect solution, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - meaning you'll have all of them to return to any point - as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you complete each objective if another more intuitive route presents itself.
Training support for students is an absolute must - locate a good company providing 24x7 full access, as anything less will not satisfy and will also hamper your progress. You'll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and so-called telephone support is normally just routed to a call-centre who will take the information and email an instructor - who will then call back sometime over the next 24hrs, at a time suitable for them. This isn't a lot of good if you're stuck and can't continue and only have a specific time you can study.
We recommend that you search for training schools that incorporate three or four individual support centres around the globe in several time-zones. These should be integrated to enable simple one-stop access and also 24x7 access, when you want it, with no hassle. Never settle for less than this. Support round-the-clock is the only viable option with IT learning. Maybe burning the midnight-oil is not your thing; but for most of us, we're at work during the provided support period.
Charging for exams up-front then giving it 'Exam Guarantee' status is a common method with a number of training colleges. But look at the facts:
It's become essential these days that we tend to be a little more 'marketing-savvy' - and generally we realise that of course it is something we're paying for - they're not just being charitable and doling out freebies! It's well known in the industry that if a student pays for each examination, one after the other, the chances are they're going to qualify each time - since they're aware of their investment in themselves and so will prepare more thoroughly.
Isn't it in your interests to not pay up-front, but at the time, not to pay the fees marked up by the training company, and to take it closer to home - instead of the remote centre that's convenient only to the trainer? Why tie up your cash (or borrow more than you need) for examinations when you don't need to? Huge profits are secured by training companies getting money in early for exam fees - and then hoping that you won't take them all. Pay heed to the fact that, in the majority of cases of 'exam guarantees' - the company decides when you can re-take the exam. You'll have to prove conclusively that you can pass before they'll pay for another exam.
Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on 'Exam Guarantees' is naive - when hard work, commitment and the right preparation via exam simulations is what will really guarantee success.
Each programme of learning really needs to work up to a nationally accepted exam at the finale - and not a worthless 'in-house' piece of paper. Only properly recognised accreditation from the major players like Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA and Adobe will be useful to a future employer. - 16039
State-of-the-art training techniques currently give students the chance to be educated on an interactive course, that is far less expensive than old-style courses. The economies of scale of the new courses puts them within everyone's reach.
Does job security honestly exist anywhere now? In the UK for example, where industry can change its mind on a whim, it certainly appears not. We're able though to discover market-level security, by searching for areas that have high demand, tied with work-skill shortages.
With the IT business as an example, the most recent e-Skills investigation showed massive skills shortages throughout the United Kingdom of over 26 percent. Essentially, we're only able to fill 3 out of 4 positions in Information Technology (IT). Properly qualified and commercially grounded new employees are thus at a resounding premium, and it looks like they will be for many years to come. As the Information Technology market is increasing at such a rate, is there any other market worth taking into account as a retraining vehicle.
Without a doubt, the computing market provides outstanding prospects. But, to arm ourselves with the correct information, what kind of questions should we ask, and what are the most important factors?
Frequently, a typical IT hopeful has no idea where to start with Information Technology, or even what sector they should be considering getting trained in. Scanning lists of IT career possibilities is a complete waste of time. Most of us don't really appreciate what our next-door neighbours do at work each day - so we're in the dark as to the ins and outs of a particular IT career. Contemplation on many areas is imperative when you need to uncover the right answers:
* The kind of individual you are - the tasks that you really enjoy, and don't forget - what don't you like doing.
* Do you want to get certified because of a specific motive - e.g. is it your goal to work based at home (self-employment?)?
* Is your income higher on your list of priorities than other factors.
* Considering the huge variation that IT encompasses, you'll need to be able to take in how they differ.
* You should also think long and hard about what kind of effort and commitment you'll put into the accreditation program.
In these situations, the only way to seek advice on these issues is through a chat with an advisor or professional that has years of experience in computing (as well as it's commercial needs and requirements.)
We'd hazard a guess that you probably enjoy fairly practical work - a 'hands-on' type. If you're anything like us, the painful task of reading endless manuals is something you'll make yourself do if you have to, but it's not ideal. Consider interactive, multimedia study if you'd really rather not use books. Recent studies into the way we learn shows that much more of what we learn in remembered when we receive multi-sensorial input, and we put into practice what we've been studying.
Interactive full motion video featuring instructor demo's and practice lab's beat books hands-down. And you'll find them fun and interesting. Don't take any chances and look at examples of the courseware provided before you make your decision. The minimum you should expect would be instructor demonstrations, video tutorials and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab's.
It's unwise to select online only courseware. Due to the variable nature of connection quality from your average broadband company, make sure you get CD or DVD ROM based materials.
The way in which your courseware is broken down for you isn't always given the appropriate level of importance. How many parts is the training broken down into? What is the specific order and how fast does each element come? Usually, you'll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and receive a module at a time. While this may sound logical on one level, consider this: What if for some reason you don't get to the end of every section? What if you don't find their order of learning is ideal for you? Without any fault on your part, you mightn't complete everything fast enough and not receive all the modules you've paid for.
For the perfect solution, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - meaning you'll have all of them to return to any point - as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you complete each objective if another more intuitive route presents itself.
Training support for students is an absolute must - locate a good company providing 24x7 full access, as anything less will not satisfy and will also hamper your progress. You'll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and so-called telephone support is normally just routed to a call-centre who will take the information and email an instructor - who will then call back sometime over the next 24hrs, at a time suitable for them. This isn't a lot of good if you're stuck and can't continue and only have a specific time you can study.
We recommend that you search for training schools that incorporate three or four individual support centres around the globe in several time-zones. These should be integrated to enable simple one-stop access and also 24x7 access, when you want it, with no hassle. Never settle for less than this. Support round-the-clock is the only viable option with IT learning. Maybe burning the midnight-oil is not your thing; but for most of us, we're at work during the provided support period.
Charging for exams up-front then giving it 'Exam Guarantee' status is a common method with a number of training colleges. But look at the facts:
It's become essential these days that we tend to be a little more 'marketing-savvy' - and generally we realise that of course it is something we're paying for - they're not just being charitable and doling out freebies! It's well known in the industry that if a student pays for each examination, one after the other, the chances are they're going to qualify each time - since they're aware of their investment in themselves and so will prepare more thoroughly.
Isn't it in your interests to not pay up-front, but at the time, not to pay the fees marked up by the training company, and to take it closer to home - instead of the remote centre that's convenient only to the trainer? Why tie up your cash (or borrow more than you need) for examinations when you don't need to? Huge profits are secured by training companies getting money in early for exam fees - and then hoping that you won't take them all. Pay heed to the fact that, in the majority of cases of 'exam guarantees' - the company decides when you can re-take the exam. You'll have to prove conclusively that you can pass before they'll pay for another exam.
Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on 'Exam Guarantees' is naive - when hard work, commitment and the right preparation via exam simulations is what will really guarantee success.
Each programme of learning really needs to work up to a nationally accepted exam at the finale - and not a worthless 'in-house' piece of paper. Only properly recognised accreditation from the major players like Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA and Adobe will be useful to a future employer. - 16039
About the Author:
Author Jason Kendall splits his work between consulting and promoting superior education and support in the UK. If you're interested in Computer Training Online, visit LearningLolly IT Courses.
